Car-door.



No. 798,120. PATENTBD AUG. 29, 1905. C. L. SPURLIN.

GAB. DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6. 1905.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFEETQE.

CHARLES L. SPURLIN, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM H. THARIE, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA.

CAR-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug'. 29, 1905.

Application filed January 6, 1905. Serial No. 239,922.

[o a/ZZ whom it muy cm1/cern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. SPURLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-Doors, of which the followingI is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in doors for railway-cars and similar vehicles, and has for its object to avoid the difficulties now experienced with the sliding doors and to dispense with the costly overhead trolley supports and guides now used.

More particularly, it is my purpose to provide a railway-car With a pair of swinging doors pivotally mounted near the lower cene tral portion of the door-frame and adapted to swing outwardly from each other on their axes so as to expose the entire door-opening. To assist in opening and closing these doors, I provide a counterbalance-weight for each which is adapted to slide in the casing of the car and is connected by a chain or rope to its respective door, so that the same may be raised or lowered with comparatively little exertion. I also provide suitable guides which are engaged by the upper edges of the door as they move together to a closed position, which cause the doors to hug the sides of the car closely.

My invention further comprises the details of construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and illustrated in a preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l is afront elevation of a section of a railway-car providedwith my improved swinging doors, one of which is shown in an open position. Fig. 2is a vertical sectional view along the line fr, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, enlarged, illustrating the pivotal support for a door. Fig. 4 is a detail view looking down upon the tops of the doors when closed and illustrating the manner in which they overlap each other and also the top guide.

Similarreference-numerals refer to the same parts throughout.

The car 1, which may be of ordinary construction, is provided with a door-opening 2, which is adapted to be closed by two swinging doors 3 and 4. These doors are pivotally mounted upon journals 5, here shown in the form of bolts, which pass through the main side beam 6 of the car and through the bottom brace-beam 7 ofthe doors near their lower adjacent edges. l/Vashers 8 are mounted on the outer ends of the journals 5 and forced against the door by the nuts 9, which are threaded and locked to the outer threaded ends of the journals in any preferred manner. According to this construction the two doors are pivotally mounted at or near their lower and inner edges and are adapted to swing outwardly from each other in a plane parallel to the side of the car. The lower adjacent corners of both doors are rounded, as shown at 10, so that they will not interfere as the doors swing around on their axes, which are shown set close together. The abutting side edges of the doors are provided with flanges Il and 12, which overlap when the doors are closed to prevent the entrance of cinders, dust, and rain within the ca-r. To canse the doors to hug to the side of the car closely, I provide a guide-plate I3, secured to the body of the car above the central portion of the door. This plate has a curved guide-section 14C, whose outer edges are adapted to be vengaged by the doors as they move to a closed position. The doors are guided with a wedging action by this iange 14 until when closed, as shown in Fig. 4, they are securely held against the side of the car and to a large extent prevented from jarring and shaking. rIhis plate is made strong enough to `prevent the doors jerking away from the car, and thus straining or bendingtheir pivot-bolts. To provide for operating these doors, I attach a handle 15 to the outer side of eaclLsuflciently long to enable `it to be grasped by both hands for the purpose of raising or lowering the door when the locking-hasp 16 has been disconnected from a staple 17. To assist in opening and closing these doors, I provide for each a counterbalance-weight 18, which is disposed within the casing of the car, one being on cach side of the door-frame and connected by a flexible cable, rope, or chain 19 to the outer lower edge of the doors. A pulley 2O is journaled in a suitable opening in the casing on each side of the door near its top, which openings are so disposed as to be covered by the doors in their closed position, and over these pulleys the ropes or chains 19 pass. Imay provide a suitable stop 2l at the upper middle IOO portion of the door-casing, against which the doors abut to prevent either moving beyond a vertical position, and in the same manner I may provide the side of the car with lugs or stops to prevent the door moving below a horizontal position. The counterbalanceweights take the strain from the hasp and staple, which would result from the doors being pivotally supported at the side and constantly tending to swing open. In this comparatively simple manner I provide means by which the doors may be easily opened and closed, and it will be noted that the whole construction is exceedingly simple and far less expensive-than the devices now in general use. By its use the expensive trolley-hangers and the steel runners for the doors, as well as the bottom guides, are dispensed with.

Any suitable means for locking or sealing the doors may be used, and the manner of pivoting the same may be varied in accordance with various requirements, also the means for counterbalancing the doors may be varied, and where the doors are constructed very lightly the same may be dispensed with, all of which modifications are within the scope of my present invention, and I desire to protect the same.

Having thus described my'invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 4 1. The combination with a railway-car, of a door-closu re therefor comprising two part-s pivoted at or near their lower adjacent edges and adapted to swing outwardly and downwardly to expose the door-aperture in the manner, substantially as described.

2. A railway-car-door closure comprising two door-sections pivotally supported at or near their bottom portions and adapted to swing outwardly and ydownwardly to expose the door-aperture, and counterbalance means for said sections.

3. A door-closure for railway-cars comprisingtwo door-sections, means to pivotally support said sections at or near their bottom portions so that they swing outwardly and downwardly to expose the door-opening, means to hold the doors against outward displacement by engaging their top portions, and means to counterbalance the doors.

4. A railway-car-door closure comprising two swinging door-sections, pivotal supports therefor comprising two journals which pass through the side beam of the car and through the lower adjacent corners of the doors, a guide-plate connected to the car and disposed in the path of the door-sections as they move to a closed position, said guide-plate acting to force said sections against the side of the car by a wedging action, and means to connect the door-sections together.

5. A railway-car-door closure comprising two swinging sections, pivotal supports therefor leading through the lower adjacent corners which are suitably rounded, the abutting side edges of said sections being provided with flanges which overlap when the sections are closed, and a common means forengaging the upper portions of said sections to force them against the sides of the car, substantially as described.

6. A railway-car-door closure comprising two swinging door-sections and pivotal supports therefor, a counterbalance-weight for each section disposed on either side of the door-opening, a flexible connection between each door-section and its weight, and a pulley connected to the casing of the car near the top of the door over which said iieXible connections pass, substantially as described.

7. Acar-door closure comprising two swinging door-sections, means to pivotally support said sections at or near their bottom portions, a counterbalance-weight for each door disposed within the car-casing, a iiexible connection between said doors and weights, and a pulley for each lieXible connection mountedA in the casing and adapted to be protected by the door when closed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence oi' two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES L. SPURLIN.

Witnesses:

H. M. HoR'roN, NoMIu WELSH. 

